Arecibo to continue remarkable renaissance July 2, 2021 WHEN ARECIBO won a nice pot at Ayr over this 5f trip two years ago this week he looked to have the world at his feet, and a race like the Coral Charge (1:50pm) would have been a reasonable future target. Even if somebody had said then that he’d go on to run second in a King’s [...]
In theory Pythagoras is up for the Challenge July 2, 2021 WILLIAM Haggas has won the last two runnings of the Coral Challenge (2.25pm) and he will be hoping to land the hat-trick with last year’s winner Montatham. The son of Showcasing arrived here 12 months ago on the back of a fine second to Dark Vision in the Royal Hunt Cup. He got his revenge [...]
Mishriff set to Eclipse his younger rival July 2, 2021 MUCH has been made of the fact that just four horses will line up for the Coral-Eclipse (3.35pm), meaning it’s the smallest field for a decade. It’s obviously disappointing that so few have been declared for the flagship race on the World Pool card, given its stature and the calibre of horses that usually turn [...]
Grand finish to a gruelling Queen Alexandra June 18, 2021 A GOOD few more millimetres of rain and a hundred or so hooves will have hit the track come the time of the final meeting of the week, the 2m5½f Queen Alexandra Stakes (6:10pm). You need to be on the lookout for rock-solid stayers with form on testing ground and THE GRAND VISIR stands out as an obvious [...]
Could be game, Seasett and match in Golden Gates June 18, 2021 IT’S GOING to be pretty tough going come the last few races on Saturday and it could pay to look for horses off low weights. One of those is SEASETT, who I fancy to give Richard Fahey a second winner of the week in the Golden Gate Handicap (5.35pm). The recent rain will have been music [...]
Art has the Power to shine brightest in Diamond Jubilee June 18, 2021 SOME wonderful sprinters have won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (4.20pm) in the past, but it is going to be more about the ability to handle conditions than anything else on Saturday afternoon. The first place to start has to be with Dream Of Dreams who has tasted agonising defeat in this race for the last [...]
France can plunder Commonwealth June 17, 2021 THERE’S usually a good French horse that slips under the radar at Royal Ascot. Our friends across the Channel have bagged at least one winner at the meeting in four of the past six years and SUESA is fancied to complete a successful raid in the Commonwealth Cup (3:40pm). After a taking win first time up this [...]
Novemba to rain at Ascot June 17, 2021 WHEN the declarations were made for the Coronation Stakes (4.20pm) earlier in the week, I was desperately hoping that the German filly NOVEMBA would feature among the final field. The challenges of travelling anywhere in the world at the moment are tough for all of us, but pale into insignificance when you consider the difficulties of moving a [...]
Flotus can make it a Friendly Friday June 17, 2021 WHEN Frankie Dettori gets on top of a horse trained by the Crisford family, take note. The Italian operates at a 30 percent strike rate when teaming up with Simon & Ed Crisford and they’ve already had a Royal Ascot winner together with A’Ali in 2019. He rides FLOTUS in the opening Albany Stakes (2.30pm) on Thursday and based on her debut [...]
Forecast rain could derail Stradivarius’ shot at history June 16, 2021 WHEN Yeats won his fourth Ascot Gold Cup (4.15pm) in 2009, few, if any, thought his incredible feat would be matched. However, in Stradivarius we have a genuine contender who could match him. John and Thady Gosden’s star stayer bids to make it five Royal Ascot wins in a row – one in the Queen’s [...]
